A 43-year-old man is the third defendant to be sentenced for theft by finding after clothes donated to the British Red Cross shop were stolen in July.

Mark Hadaway, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to theft by finding, following the previous guilty pleas and sentencing of two co-defendants, Daryell Fottles and Diane Lewis, both of Manthorpe Road,

Prosecutor Paul Wood explained that overnight on July 8 and 9 the British Red Cross shop in the Market Place had an outbuilding broken into from which bags of donated clothing were taken.

Council CCTV then captured Hadaway wheeling a shopping bag and holding handbags accompanied by Fottles and Lewis, as they made their way to a recycling point in Westgate.

Here they were able to receive payment for the items dependant on the weight, and made £27.

Mr Wood said that all the defendants claimed they had found the clothes on the street.

He added that as the exact value of the clothes to the shop could not be known, it was up to the court to determine appropriate compensation, with Fottles and Lewis having each been ordered to pay £15 to the British Red Cross.

In Hadaway’s defence, Rory Macmillan explained that his client had previously been addicted to heroin for five years but had been receiving treatment, regularly attending Addaction, and had given negative drug tests for the past two months.

Mr Macmillan also outlined how Hadaway had not received any income since March of this year due to missing a medical appointment, and in the meantime had been staying with a friend while relying on charitable organisations for food.

He repeated the point that the defendant found the clothes and went nowhere near the Red Cross premises, while also confirming that Hadaway had committed no further offences since this incident.

Magistrates ordered Hadaway to pay £15 in compensation, but did not award costs due to his limited means.